Future Research Leaders – Third call for proposals

This call is now closed. The details below are for reference only.

We are pleased to announce the third call for proposals for our early careers scheme, Future Research Leaders. The Future Research Leaders scheme aims to support outstanding early career researchers to carry out excellent research and to develop all aspects of their research and knowledge exchange skills.

The call is open to high-quality candidates from anywhere in the world who have a maximum of four years' postdoctoral experience and the support of an eligible UK research organisation.

Grants will be for a maximum of three years with an overall limit of £312,500 (at 100 per cent full Economic Cost). We aim to fund around 70 awards.

If you have any questions or would like further information about the scheme please email futureresearchleaders@esrc.ac.uk

We are monitoring the questions we receive so that these can be included in the Frequently Asked Questions. We highly recommend that potential applicants review this document before contacting the ESRC case officers for advice:

Jennifer Edwards
Telephone: 01793 442544Henna Patel
Telephone: 01793 411914

Enquiries relating to the Je-S application procedure should be addressed to:

View the original article here

ESRC future of UK and Scotland pre and post referendum investment

We are inviting Full Proposals from eligible research organisations across the UK for research and knowledge exchange work across a broad range of issues and policy areas affected by the Scottish independence debate and the longer term future of the UK and Scotland.

The duration of the ESRC’s core support will be 24 months in the first instance and will span the year leading up to and the year following the Scottish referendum vote in Autumn 2014. The maximum amount available in the first instance is £2.5 million at 100 per cent of full economic cost (fEC), of which the ESRC will pay up to 80 per cent.

Applications must be submitted via the Research Council Joint Electronic Submission (Je-S) System, no later than 16.00 on 16 April 2013.

If you have any questions or would like further information about the scheme:

View the original article here

Future of the Armed Forces: understanding issues around integration of Regular and Reserve personnel

The Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) in collaboration with the British Army and the Ministry of Defence (MOD) is seeking to commission innovative research projects to help inform some of the pressing issues facing the Armed Forces in the process of integrating Regular and Reserve components into a ‘Whole Force’ structure.

Significant changes that are expected as a result of the transformation process require high quality social science analysis. Research can help to identify, explain and understand the cultural, social and economic issues that impact on both Regular and Reserve components and to identify additional external factors which may have an influence on the successful integration.

Proposals for this call are invited to address one or more of critical issues which will inform the transformation process, for example:

Social, economic and cultural issues that impact on regulars and reservesAttitudes of families, employers and wider society towards reserve serviceEmpirical evidence of the impact of amendments to personnel and training policiesAny cultural change for both Regular and Reserve components.

The areas are not exclusive and we welcome innovative research proposals focusing on these issues or other relevant issues within the remit of this call. Some of the issues addressed in the call are not unique to the Armed Forces and applicants are encouraged to demonstrate in their proposals how their research could help address similar circumstances outside of the military, for example understanding the implications for families where one member may be absent for a long period of time due to professional duties.

The closing date for proposals is 16.00 on 14 November. Proposals should be submitted electronically using the Research Council’s Joint Electronic Submission (Je-S) form.

For further guidance and information, please contact:

Enquiries relating to the Je-S application procedure should be addressed to:

View the original article here

Future Income Tax Cuts From the 2001 Tax Legislation

William G. Gale, Matthew Hall, Peter Orszag

The nonpartisan Urban Institute publishes studies, reports, and books on timely topics worthy of public consideration. The views expressed are those of the authors and should not be attributed to the Urban Institute, its trustees, or its funders.

© TAX ANALYSTS. Reprinted with permission.

This report is available in its entirety in the Portable Document Format (PDF).

The Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act (EGTRRA) of 2001 back-loaded many of its provisions. For example, EGTRRA reduces the top income tax rate from 38.6 percent currently to 37.6 percent in 2004 and 35 percent in 2006.

This report is available in its entirety in the Portable Document Format (PDF).

View the original article here

The Future of Individual Tax Rates: Effects of Economic Growth and Distribution : Leonard Burman's Testimony before the Senate Committee on Finance

The Future of Individual Tax Rates: Effects of Economic Growth and DistributionLeonard E. Burman

The text below is an excerpt from the complete testimony. Read the full written testimony in PDF format.

Leonard Burman's testimony before the Senate Committee on Finance on whether and how to extend the 2001 and 2003 tax cuts.

Chairman Baucus, Ranking Member Grassley, Members of the Committee: Thank you for inviting me to share my views on whether and how to extend the 2001 and 2003 tax cuts. I am speaking for myself alone. My views should not be attributed to any of the organizations with which I am affiliated.

The expiration of the "Bush tax cuts" at the end of 2010 creates a number of decision points for the Congress: Should all or some of the tax cuts be extended? If so, should they be made permanent? If not, how long should they be extended for? And, if only some of the tax cuts are to be extended, which ones?

In short, I believe it would be a serious mistake to make any of the tax cuts permanent now. The income tax is a mess and is badly in need of an overhaul. It doesn't raise close to enough revenue to pay for current governmental expenditures and is needlessly complex, unfair, and inefficient. A system-wide reform along the lines of the Tax Reform Act of 1986, but with the goal of eventually raising enough revenue get the national debt out of the red zone should be a top priority for the Congress. Permanent extension of the tax cuts would make such a reform far more difficult and would signal to markets that our budget problems are only going to get worse.

However, I also think it would be a mistake to allow all of the tax cuts to expire as scheduled in 2011. The economy is in a very precarious state and a major tax increase would slow the economic recovery. With credit still in very short supply, low- and middle-income households are facing serious cash flow constraints. A tax increase would result in less spending, which would ripple through the economy, costing jobs and threatening the nascent recovery.

View the original article here

The Future of Individual Tax Rates: Effects on Growth and Distribution : Donald Marron's Testimony Before the Senate Committee on Finance

The Future of Individual Tax Rates: Effects on Growth and DistributionDonald Marron

The text below is an excerpt from the complete testimony. Read the full written testimony in PDF format.

Donald Marron's testimony before the Senate Committee on Finance on the individual tax system.

Chairman Baucus, Ranking Member Grassley, and Members of the Committee: Thank you for inviting me to appear today to discuss our individual income tax system.

As this committee knows well, our nation faces difficult economic and fiscal challenges. In the aftermath of the worst financial crisis since the 1930s, almost 15 million workers are unemployed, about one-tenth of our work force. Almost 7 million of those workers have been unemployed for six months or longer. And millions more lack jobs but don't count in the statistics because they're too discouraged to look for work. Moderate economic growth is expected to lower those figures only gradually over the next few years.

At the same time, budget deficits have rocketed to 60-year highs because of the financial crisis, the weak economy, and subsequent policy responses. As a result, the federal debt has grown from about 40 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) at the end of 2008 to about 60 percent of GDP today, the highest since just after World War II.

Deficits should narrow in coming years as the economy recovers and as policy responses to the recession wind down. Our long-term fiscal outlook remains daunting, however, because of a fundamental imbalance between spending and revenues. Because of an aging population and rising health care costs, spending is expected to grow significantly faster than revenues over the next 25 years, pushing our nation deeper into debt.

View the original article here